Venture capitalists invested $335 million in Bitcoin-focused startups last year, up from $96 million in 2013, according to Coindesk. The design of Bitcoin and the blockchain, its public transaction ledger, make it challenging to distinguish specific types of transactions. Nonetheless, researchers from the U.S. Federal Reserve determined in a recent analysis that the currency is “still barely used for payments for goods and services.” Last week, nearly 200,000 bitcoins changed hands each day, on average. But fewer than 5,000 bitcoins per day (worth roughly $1.2 million) are being used for retail transactions, according to estimates by Tim Swanson, head of business development at Melotic, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency technology company. For many people, the currency simply doesn’t solve a problem, given the convenience and familiarity of using credit cards.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/535221/is-bitcoin-stalling/